Hyperspaces (Mission 2)

This thread is for discussing Hyperspaces, featured as a freebie during mission 2.

Hyperspaces is developed by Tony Arnold, designed to add some missing features and conveniences for fans of 'multiple desktops'. (You may recognize him from his previous app, VirtueDesktops, which was a spiritual successor to Hyperspaces.)

Feel free to leave thoughts, questions, and feedback in this thread, Tony will be keeping watch. Enjoy!

Ack - sorry about the prefs problem, people - I'll push out an update shortly. I'm pretty active in terms of updates, so I'll address stuff as I can.

As for the memory concerns - yeah, I know - it's partially why I haven't hit 1.0 yet. Using CoreAnimation has a fairly intense memory cost - and Hyperspaces uses it to a great extent.

If anybody comes across crashes (it is a preview!) just be sure to submit the crash report when you restart the application, or e-mail it directly to support at thecocoabots.com (sorry, I can't post URLs or e-mails yet - I need to post more!).

derekl - no, you shouldn't have waited. The version of Hyperspaces you guys get through MacHeist is an unrestricted version, and you will receive updates as I release them - but only until version 1.0 proper is released. If you'd like to continue receiving updates beyond that point, you'll need to pick up a full license.

tonyarnold, the program looks great. Only one major problem for me though... I use PathFinder, and the desktop created by that app covers the spaces backgrounds created by hyperspaces. Is there a way to make it show above the PathFinder desktop? Otherwise, it has no use for me I'm afraid.

tonyarnold, the program looks great. Only one major problem for me though... I use PathFinder, and the desktop created by that app covers the spaces backgrounds created by hyperspaces. Is there a way to make it show above the PathFinder desktop? Otherwise, it has no use for me I'm afraid.

Not at present, but I do have a few other users who are getting very upset about this incompatibility. I'll look at adding an option to allow you to set the desktop decoration window level.

i must say, I have been a very heavy user of spaces. I have space for almost every kind of app. I have about 9 in all. but i use everyone of them almost daily. And well..... I have been customizing my spaces for the last two hours now!! I LOVE THIS APP!! this is by far my favorite so far. Tony you most def. will be getting my money when this is released at 1.0. I only have one recommendation. I absolutely love the ability to title my spaces. I can't tell you how often in my head i deem a certain space for particular kind of app, but I don't really stick to it. So I find myself getting lost all the time in al my spaces. Therefore, the small title that i put at the bottom of each space and then the small title in the menu bar make it almost too good to be true for my needs. However, one thing I MIGHT ( not too sure, but it could be cool) change is if the title on the desktop would have the ability to fade away after a predetemined interval. It might be the little tweak that sets some people off. Other than that ill just have to wait and see how this app holds up to daily driving of my mac. Looks good so far! Thank you so much Tony Arnold and thanks to you too MacHeist!! Each one keeps getting better and better.

izdale and tony arnold - im not sure how im doing it, but i use pathfinder with hyperspaces and it works flawlessly. i'm not sure how im doing it, i remember spending awhile tinkering with preference settings, but if i can be any assistance and send u screenshots of my settings or what not just shoot me a pm

I'm guessing you have the setting to hide the PathFinder desktop. That would make hyperspaces work, but then when I click on the desktop, I am in Finder and not PathFinder, so that's not a solution for me. But that would be one way to make it work with both apps. From my searching, the other apps out there that can change the wallpaper to be different for each space also don't go overtop of PathFinder's desktop, so if hyperspaces added that ability, it would be the best one out there

I'm having trouble setting hotkeys. I'd like to use Option-Q and Option-W to move left and right through the spaces like I used to with VirtueDesktops, but Hyperspaces is telling me they're used. It says I can look for them under the Keyboard & Mouse section in System Preferences, but they're not listed there. Any suggestions?

Hey Tony, is it possible, or will it be soon, to have it set different pictures in each monitor? That is my only concern with it, I use a 20 in iMac with a second screen and it would be swell to have it do 2 different backgrounds like I usually have.

Hey Tony, is it possible, or will it be soon, to have it set different pictures in each monitor? That is my only concern with it, I use a 20 in iMac with a second screen and it would be swell to have it do 2 different backgrounds like I usually have.

It will be in version 1.1. There are some stability issues I need to work out for 1.0 - you know, get the basics working nice and smooth. Once that's done, I'll definitely be looking at multi-monitor support.

i must say, I have been a very heavy user of spaces. I have space for almost every kind of app. I have about 9 in all. but i use everyone of them almost daily.

I do the same thing. I have Email in a space, web browsers in a space, iTunes has it's on home and so on and so on.

1 thing I would love to see is a spaces-like desktop view when you right-click on the icon in the menu bar. Seeing my apps in those blocks would be a lot better because I typically run so many apps. Not every app has it's own space, so there are times when Textmate and a few other items are running in various spaces. A quick glance at those desktop blocks would guide me to the right place. It would be even better if like the spaces blocks, we could drag apps from space to space!

I am totally loving this app! Customizing is awesome. I look forward to seeing what Tony has up his sleeves in the way of future features.

Hi Tony, glad to see the author here. Is it possible to just have the UNIX-style virtual desktop pager run *only*. For me this would do what I want, I don't really need the other features, which should make it more stable. Even this by itself is something I would pay for. Thanks.

Okay, stupid question, how do I get the "Hyperspaces switcher" shown on hyperspacesapp.com to show up, I don't see it in the preferences? Is this supposed to be a floating window, or something in the menubar? Thanks.

Okay, bear with me, I see there is a hotkey to make it show up, but I would like to just always have the switcher on the screen so I can single click between desktops. Also, how do I turn off the animation when switching desktop? (Oh, it would be also nice if the switcher showed an outline of the windows open in each desktop.)

What ever you do, don't click registration on the preferences window, it resizes the preferences window to nil, and you have to restart hyperspaces to get the preferences window to open back up.

Same problem ... furthermore I can't assign different wallpapers for different Spaces, why's that? And what does that "Draw Desktop" mean? Why should I leave it turned on if it only causes problems with other apps?

crashed for me. then would not relaunch.any incompatibilities we should know about? especially with any of the other great loot?

desktop pictures is the coolest part of the app.

i have 10.5.5, C2D 2.4GHz, 4GB

OK, so there are a few people reporting nasty crashes like this - if you can send me an e-mail directly (support@thecocoabots.com) and include any crash reports from under ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter that have 'Hyperspaces' in the name, I'll have a look and get back to you.

Looks good to me, I just want a way to always display the switcher/pager without needing a hotkey and I would pay for this. Maybe with the option to have a single-click switcher in the dock or menubar too.

furthermore I can't assign different wallpapers for different Spaces, why's that?

Can you have a look in your console and see if there's anything printed there about Hyperspaces? You should at the least be able to set desktop images for each space! (Unless you've turned off "Draw Desktop" below...)

om3ga777 wrote:

And what does that "Draw Desktop" mean? Why should I leave it turned on if it only causes problems with other apps?

Basically, I put it in to help users who use PathFinder, EarthDesk and their ilk - it was a way of still allowing desktop labels and the other features of Hyperspaces, without overwriting their desktop. It's also good for low memory situations - turning off the desktop background (which is what this setting does) stops Hyperspaces from caching the images for your spaces, and drastically reduces memory consumption.

Hi Tony, glad to see the author here. Is it possible to just have the UNIX-style virtual desktop pager run *only*. For me this would do what I want, I don't really need the other features, which should make it more stable. Even this by itself is something I would pay for. Thanks.

Perhaps in a future version. If you're looking for the cut down experience, go into the preferences and deselect "Draw desktop backgrounds", "Animate changes to desktop". Then move into the "Hyperspaces" tab of the preferences, and deselect "Show space name on desktop", and make sure you have no custom colours or images set for any of your spaces.

I'll be looking at making the switcher window detachable from the menu bar in a future release of Hyperspaces.

Okay, stupid question, how do I get the "Hyperspaces switcher" shown on hyperspacesapp.com to show up, I don't see it in the preferences? Is this supposed to be a floating window, or something in the menubar? Thanks.

Right click on the menu bar item for Hyperspaces. If you haven't changed the default keyboard shortcuts, option-` will also bring up the switcher.